Why did THX certify Acoustic Materials?

Andrew Poulain, THX Ltd. - “Whether you’re designing a commercial cinema or home theater, having the right sound and video equipment is just one half of a great movie experience. The other half is how those components are placed and calibrated, and whether or not the design of the room can accurately translate video and sound using that equipment. Because room acoustics and sound isolation play such a key role in the overall home theater experience, we felt that Certifying acoustic materials was a natural extension of our program.”

What challenges does a room typically present when building a home theater?

Andrew Poulain, THX Ltd. - “One of the main challenges for any designer or home owner is always going to be sound isolation. Because most home theaters are often surrounded by bedrooms, windows, doors and even noisy appliances, it is very difficult to keep unwanted noise from traveling in and out of the room. To eliminate these potential distractions, a high level of isolation has to be achieved with very limited physical space for the dense materials it usually takes to do the job.”

How do the THX Certified Serious Materials products help to address this challenge?

Andrew Poulain, THX Ltd. - “When certifying a professional cinema or studio, THX works with industry leading Acoustical and Structural Engineers to ensure that the auditoriums are specifically built to address isolation issues. In the home, the average consumer does not have access to this type of budget or resources. Serious Materials QuietRock 545THX Dry wall and QuietHome Door offers them an acoustic material solution that not only meets THX standards of quality, but is practical when working with a limited budget and space. The QuietRock 545THX Dry wall and QuietHome Door succeed in keeping the movie soundtrack in the room, while keeping distracting sounds from adjacent rooms out.”

Ambleside THX Certified Advanced Screening Room

Are there any noteworthy venues that use Serious Materials QuietRock?

Andrew Poulain, THX Ltd. - “Besides using it in our own THX Home Demo Room, we worked with Sony Computer Entertainment to design and certify 22 of their mixing facilities in Foster City and San Diego, as well as other video games studios. The reason I mention companies rather than homes, is because of the unique set of challenges they faced in constructing their rooms. In these cases, the clients wanted to achieve a high level of sound isolation between adjacent studios, but were limited in the amount of space they could use. Serious Materials QuietRock 545THX and the QuietHome Door offered a great solution.

Another noteworthy project we worked on was the Ambleside THX Advanced Screening Room (pictured above). This is a room that was built for an AV installer who wanted to show his clients the quality that could be achieved in a home theater setting. Again, space was limited, so the owner opted to use our Certified Serious Materials products to achieve optimal sound control.”